The Real Deal Miami

Midtown land trades for $12.3 million

A company tied to Miami-based Fifteen Group sold a land assemblage in the Midtown neighborhood at a significant premium from what it paid four years ago.

Fifteen Midtown Properties completed the sale of nine properties totaling a little more than one acre for $12.3 million in a transaction recorded last week, according to Miami-Dade County records. The company paid $5.3 million for the 3601, 3610, 3630, 3651 and 3701 North Miami Avenue and 17 and 25 Northeast 36th Street parcels in November 2010.

The 2010 transaction also included an office building at 47 Northeast 36th Street that was not part of last week’s sale.

The buyer is Aventura Hotel Properties. State corporate records identify Francisco Arocha of Miami as the company’s manager. Aventura Hotel received a $7.5 million mortgage from Midtown 8 Land LLC for the acquisition.

Adam Greenberg, Michael Lapointe and Krystelle Lopez of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank marketed the property on behalf of the Fifteen Group company. The site’s existing zoning would allow mixed-use construction of up to 20 stories.

As the buyer’s company name suggests, a hotel is planned for the site, Lapointe told The Real Deal.

“This sale shows the continued strength of the market and investor demand for the area,” he said. “This property in particular is planned to be a hotel. That reflects the demand for alternative uses in the area around Midtown and the Design District.”

Another Fifteen Group company took in $15.8 million from the sale of the Baltus building in the nearby Design District in April. Thor Equities paid about $12 million more than Fifteen Group spent on the property in January 2012.— Eric Kalis